Celebrating The Season

Lots of images on this post. Has been a very busy season, and more-than-the-usual stress involved. Still planning on going private, but I wanted to post these pictures before they became obsolete!


My kind and supportive friend Janet took the girls for most of a day to give me some private shopping time. They got all dressed up and went to the mall to see Santa.

Janet got to try out her new Nikkon, with spectacular results!

The girls asked Santa for bikes this Christmas. Guess what Virginia? There IS a Santa Claus!

They asked for the training wheels to come off after the first day. Ava took off like a pro on the very first push! Elle is still working on it. She has the balance thing down but still working on control, which she lacks. And all she really cares about is speed! Lord help me!

Christmas is not complete for little girls without new dolls. Ava named hers after me. Even though it looks like her.

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We also had a birthday in there. Elle turned 7 three days before Christmas. We had her little party on the Sunday before the holiday.

She had a little bit of a hard time understanding the whole concept. Because she has never even celebrated her birthday, or known when it was, I have been telling her for months it was 'at Christmas'. Then I had to explain to her that her birthday was on the 22nd but we were having the party on the 20th. By the time it was all said and done, she thought she was having 3 birthday parties, and had a bit of a meltdown when she found out that was NOT the case! Luckily, Santa Claus and his visit made up for all that misunderstanding, and hopefully we have it down for next year!

Merry Christmas

Don't forget to turn the music off at the side bar...

Going Private

Have not wanted to do this, but have been considering it for awhile. Now, even more lately. There is no guarantee that I will write more, but I do need to write honestly, and feel like I'm having to sugarcoat or omit right now for protection.

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Thanks!

Still Marked By November

I did not exit unscathed from November. On Monday, the last day of the month, I found out that Stevenson is OUT OF IBESR!!! This is truly amazing, a 5 month stay. Even M., the director of the O is amazed. The ONLY reason I can think that this happened is that I was granted dispense for the girls only 18 months ago, and perhaps they piggybacked it.

Of course there is one small glitch with the paperwork: the child emerged with my maiden name attached to him instead of my name, which is my married name. And I found out something interesting about Haitian culture. In Haiti, if you get a divorce, the women's name automatically reverts back to her family name. M. could not fathom why we don't do the same, and I told him it was because of the children. This did not happen with the girls, but, you know, personnel changes in these offices, so who knows why. She thought it would be an easy fix.

As always, this news is bittersweet. To my adoptive friends that have been waiting so long for dispense and approval, I am so sorry you are still stuck in this process, and I know the feeling well. If there is rhyme or reason to Haitian adoption, I can't figure it out.